A revolutionary electrical vehicle is set to be launched as soon as 2020 following a £2 billion investment by Sir James Dyson.

The tech tycoon, who has links to the South West, made the announcement today (September 26).

Half of the £2 billion investment will go directly towards the vehicle's creation while the remaining £1 billion will fund battery technology that could be adapted for a variety of uses.

The announcement was sent out to Dyson employees today.

Dyson is famous for his vacuum cleaner (Image: Getty)

"I wanted you to hear it directly from me: Dyson has begun work on a battery electric vehicle, due to be launched by 2020," Sir James said.

"We've started building an exceptional team that combines top Dyson engineers with talented individuals from the automotive industry. The team is already over 400 strong and we are recruiting aggressively.

"I'm committed to investing £2 billion on this endeavour."

He said the project would "grow quickly" but did not release any further information, saying competition for new tech in the auto industry was "fierce".

"We must do everything we can to keep the specifics of our vehicle confidential."

Inventor James Dyson's ball vacuum cleaner (Image: Getty)

The technology tycoon said the idea had been brewing for decades amid concerns about global air pollution and vehicle emissions.

Sir James pointed to prototypes the company developed back in 1993 that would be fitted to the vehicle's exhaust system to trap harmful particulates from exhaust.

Dyson scrapped the project as "nobody at the time was interested".

He said that while government have adopted so-called clean diesel engines, major auto manufacturers had since "duped" clean air regulations, leaving cities full of "smog-belching cars, lorries and buses".